SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has obtained a two-thirds majority in parliament - a crucial level of support required to change the country's constitution.
The magic threshold was reached this week during the latest round of musical chairs by sitting members of parliament.
"It is an emotional thing. The ANC believes it has the backing of the overwhelming majority of the people and it was an anomaly that was not reflected in parliament," said Mogale Mashiapata, of the Institute for Multiparty Democracy, in Durban.
Under a controversial law that took effect last month, MPs can defect from one party to another during specific time-periods without seeking a new mandate from voters.
A senior ANC official said the party had gained nine defectors through this "floor-crossing", bringing the total to 275, or 68.75 per cent of the 400-seat parliament. The ANC had held 66 per cent, or 266 seats, since the 1999 general elections - just under the threshold.
A two-thirds majority is required to change the constitution and its key bill of rights. But any changes must be in line with the bill of rights and must not contradict other parts of the constitution. If they do, they risk being struck down by the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa, legal experts said.
The ANC has not signalled plans to change the constitution if it obtained a two-thirds majority. But President Thabo Mbeki has said reaching the threshold would give his ANC government a complete mandate to "chart the course of the country".
Critics have condemned floor-crossing as contempt for the electorate and portrayed the ANC as power-thirsty.
"There is nothing democratic about a small elite class going against the wishes of the electorate and unilaterally changing parties," said the Rev Musa Zondi, spokesman of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
IFP is small nationally but controls the volatile and populous eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, the scene of sporadic violence pitting the IFP against the ANC over the last decade. Mr Zondi said he expects the ANC to try to take control of the provincial legislature of KwaZulu-Natal, the only one of the country's nine provinces not under its leadership.- (Reuters)